ELMONT, N.Y. – If you are judged by the company you keep, then Fast Falcon, despite having just one career victory, will be deemed as having a big chance in Sunday’s $90,000 Albert the Great Stakes at Belmont Park.
Since winning a maiden race at Pimlico a year ago, Fast Falcon has competed in six graded stakes, including a neck loss in the Grade 1 Travers to dead-heat winners Alpha and Golden Ticket. He also was beaten a neck by Teeth of the Dog in the Grade 2 Dwyer.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Saginaw, entered to run in Saturday’s $75,000 Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth Park, was expected to scratch from that race to run Sunday at Belmont in a $55,000 starter/optional-claiming race.
In theory, this may be an easier spot for the champion New York-bred older male, but it’s far from easy.
Presque Isle Downs opens for its seventh year of racing Sunday with several big changes from years past. Most obvious of all is the new racing schedule for the customary 100-day meet. Racing will be held from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday being the dark days.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A polite review of Dhaamer says he fell short of expectations in his comeback March 23.
The truth is it was an utter disaster. Dhaamer finished a bad sixth in the Grade 3 Tokyo City, losing by a double-digit margin as second betting choice. Want an excuse? Plenty are available.
Perhaps jockey error contributed to the worst showing by Dhaamer since arriving from England. Dhaamer, a one-run closer, was inexplicably positioned close to the pace. Denied his preferred style, he faded.
AUBURN, Wash. – A stellar field of eight fillies and mares will help launch Emerald Downs’s 2013 stakes schedule when they compete Sunday in the $50,000 Hastings Handicap at six furlongs.
Exclusive Diva and E Z Kitty, who ran 1-2 in a fast allowance race three weeks ago, are likely to attract the lion’s share of the betting in the Hastings, the ninth race on a 10-race program beginning at 2 p.m. Pacific.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The announcement that Betfair Hollywood Park will cease operations at the end of 2013 has increased urgency among Southern C1alifornia racing officials to develop alternative plans for a year-round racing calendar and stabling venues.
The racing dates issue will be discussed and possibly resolved at a California Horse Racing Board meeting in Sacramento on May 23.
Despite a slight drop in the average field size from last year, 7.43 compared to 7.78, the total live handle at the meet is up by 6 percent compared to the first eight days of racing last year. In both years, there were 63 races run. The gain is attributed to a strong increase in offtrack wagering inside and outside of British Columbia.
“A lot of our local bigger players continue to follow the trend of wagering online,” said Raj Mutti, general manager at Hastings.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It will not be long after the last race has been run in December and the horses have been shipped out of the stable area before the dismantling of Betfair Hollywood Park will begin next winter.
Hollywood Park announced Thursday that the 75-year-old track will run its final race meeting from Nov. 7 to Dec. 22. Track president Jack Liebau said in an interview that the demolition of the property will begin in January 2014.
As a racetrack, Hollywood Park will be reduced to memories.
